


the beginning of a new era

by waywardbrain



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: After the witcher 3 wild hunt game, Bi ciri, Book Spoilers, Empress Ciri, F/M, Found Family, Just to be safe, Minor Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Rewrote a bit of chapter 1, Yen and Ciri get to chill together and just talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waywardbrain/pseuds/waywardbrain
Summary: A year after Ciri had chosen to return to Emhyr and Nilfgaard, she comes in contact with a certain witcher and sorceress again
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 3
Kudos: 75





	the beginning of a new era

**Author's Note:**

> After playing The Witcher 3 Wild hunt, I felt that Yennefer and Ciri needed more attention together. So here is this fic. It's based mostly on the games, with very limited book knowledge.

A year it had been since that dreadful day in White Orchard where she returned with Geralt and found the Nilfgaardian soldiers waiting to escort her back to Nilfgaard and Emhyr. Her decision was final and made with much consideration. Just for a moment, her mind wavered when she saw Geralt’s sad expression and she asked him if he would take her to the Blue Mountains by force. For a split second, she wanted him to ask her to stay and join him on the path. Before she could even entertain that thought further, Geralt came with his answer. He would travel half the world to find her, but never force her to anything. She gave him a tight and prolonged embrace after she had returned her sword. It would be the last hug they would share for a while 

Ciri made her way to the waiting soldiers and mounted her horse. She followed the soldiers and allowed herself to look over her shoulder one last time to see the life and people she would leave behind. 

The raven-haired sorceress walked out of the inn, her expression laced with uncertainty as she locked eyes with the woman she considered to be her daughter. ‘’Ciri…’’ She whispered ever so softly as she understood what was happening. Her expression turned from uncertainty to sadness. She looked at Geralt before turning back to Ciri once more, and finally, with a little shake of her head, she cast her eyes downward to the snow, to hide her watering eyes. 

Ciri’s own eyes had watered too after seeing the sorceress. Instant regret filled her of the choice she made to not inform her of the decision she had taken. She turned to look straight ahead again, not daring to take another look back at the people she would leave behind. The life she would leave behind. ‘’Forgive me,’’ she whispered as a tear rolled down over the scar of her cheek. 

The following years, Ciri, kept busy with reacquainting herself with Nilfgaard, its culture, the laws, and people. Advisors took turns to lecture her about different matters in the kingdom. Emhyr was one of the people that Ciri had to reacquaint herself with too. That had proved to be at times rather hard, the two often butted heads and disagreed on various matters. This did allow Emhyr to see what kind of ruler his daughter would be, she was stubborn, yes, but not enough to not completely rule out advice from himself or the other advisors. She had a mind of her own and would not allow herself to be anyone’s puppet. 

The emperor was getting old and weary, he started to appreciate spending time with his daughter more and more. He had lost so much time with her. Eventually after weeks and many talks later an understanding started to form between them, one as rules. Their familial bond of a father and daughter were beyond repair. He had realized all the mistakes he had made in the past, it was too late to undo them, so Emhyr made his decision and choose to honor his agreement to abdicate and allow Ciri to become the next empress. 

Emhyr had sent Ciri, her advisors and an impressive amount of guards to tour the provinces. She was representing Nilfgaard. Her entrance in every province had to be grand. He concluded that she must get to know what she would rule once she would take the throne. 

It so happened that her next visit would be Toussaint, a tourney would be held. It was a known fact that she was still unwed and that she would claim the throne with no husband beside her. It was a demand Ciri had made as soon as had returned. A perfect opportunity for plenty of worthy suitors to present themselves to her. What she was more interested in was the fact that a certain witcher and sorceress had settled down near there. 

*****

Yennefer walked up the stairs to reach the main entrance of Corvo Bianco. She had made it a habit to not teleport in the house anymore, after being greeted by loud and shrill shrieks of the staff who were certainly not used to live and work with a sorceress on the estate. 

In front of the entrance stood Barnabas, looking rather irritated. It almost seemed he was throwing daggers with his eyes to the door. 

‘’Careful now, Barnabas, were you a sorcerer, you would have burned the house down with just your eyes.’’

‘’Lady Yennefer!’’ Barnabas could pull his attention away from the door and rushed over to her, not even commenting on her last remark. ‘’Some unknown and rather rude individual barged into the residence. I resisted as best as I could but to no avail! 

Corvo Bianco was peaceful and rather uneventful, Yennefer was not worried. ‘’Who is it?’’ She asked. 

‘’She didn’t say her name, just that she was looking for master witcher and you. I told her to come back later when one of you would return. She did not accept this answer and tried to enter the residence. I blocked her path and then she commanded me to step aside after proclaiming she was the future empress of Nilfgaard.’’ He explained quickly, irritation in his voice clear after this rather rude encounter. 

Yennefer froze, she had not seen Ciri for a year now. They had contact with each other, but not many letters were sent. The young empress proved to be rather busy.

‘’She cannot be who she claims to be,’’ Barnabas who was not noticing that the lady of the house was for a moment in shock continued to talk about this encounter. ‘’Rumor has it that the future empress is scheduled to arrive in two days, not today, even then it is just a rumor and not based on facts,’’ he crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. ‘’Neither could I spot a crown on her head, or clothes fitting of that of an empress!’’ 

‘’Barnabas, bring some wine, cheese and fruit to the garden for the future empress and I,’’ she completely ignored his rant about the encounter and finally gathered the courage to enter the residence. 

Barnabas paled when he realized that he did in fact talk to the real future empress. ‘’Right away, Lady Yennefer,’’ he quickly scurried off to fetch what was asked for. 

Inside the house stood Ciri, her back currently turned to Yennefer. With her fingertips, she caressed the steel of the blade that she had given back to Geralt. It once belonged to her.

Barnabas was wrong about one thing. Ciri was dressed as an empress, just not one most were used to. She wore black leather trousers, black boots with golden clasps in the form of the Nilfgaardian sun. Her shirt was colored a deep red that was loosely tucked into her trousers. If one had an eye for fashion, it could be easily seen that the craftsmanship and materials were both of high quality. Barnabas did, after all, know houses better than fashion. 

Now that Yennefer was calm, and confirmed with her own eyes that it was Ciri who stood in front of her, she began to speak. ‘’He looks at it every night, before going to bed, wondering how you are doing and when he will receive another letter.’’ 

Ciri turned around and did not hesitate for a moment to rush to the sorceress and embrace her tightly. She placed her head in the crook of her neck and smelled the familiar scent of lilac and gooseberries, just as Geralt she had come to love the scent. ‘’Forgive me, I should have told both of you,’’ she mumbled as she still held on to her. In her letters, she had already apologized and explained her reasoning, but now was finally the chance to say it in person. 

Yennefer let out a soft gasp as Ciri practically tackled her, she could offer just enough resistance so that neither of them would fall. ‘’You should have,’’ she nodded. It was something that Yennefer could, at times, still be bitter about. ‘’But all is forgiven, what matters is that chose your own path.’’ She gave Ciri another squeeze with her arms before she pulled back from the embrace. 

The women simultaneously opened their mouths to speak and slightly chuckled as both offered that the other should go first. 

‘’Come, there is wine in the garden,’’ she started to lead Ciri out of the house and lead her to her favorite spot of the house. ‘’Geralt is visiting a blacksmith to prepare his armor for the tourney. He’ll be back tonight.’’ 

‘’A witcher competing in a knightly tourney? That has got to be a first.’’ 

Barnabas was awaiting them in the garden. ‘’My deepest and sincerest apologies, princess,’’ he bowed deeply and dramatically when the women had reached the garden. ‘’For I did not recognize you immediately.’’ 

‘’It’s no problem,’’ Ciri could not help but smile at the dramatic way in which he bowed before her. 

Barnabas was burning red when she stood straight again, still embarrassed that he had not appropriately greeted someone of such high stature. ‘’If there is anything you need, I will not be far away,’’ he left the women to give them some privacy. 

Yennefer meanwhile had already sat down on the fainting couch, with her legs stretched out, and handed Ciri a goblet filled with wine. 

Ciri took a moment to take in the view and took a sip from her wine. ‘’How is life on the vineyard for the powerful sorceress, Yennefer of Vengerberg?’’ 

‘’Peaceful, content….’’ she ate a grape before continuing her answer. ‘’I am happy here, with Geralt.’’ 

‘’Took you guys long enough,’’ Ciri scoffed as she too took a grape and ate it. It made her smile when she saw Yennefer’s smile accompanied with that answer. ‘’I was not about to call Triss, mother.’’ She was fond of the red-haired sorceress, but a deeper connection than that wasn’t there. Ciri would always side with Yennefer in that matter. 

Yennefer rolled her eyes, but secretly her heart swelled when Ciri made clear that she would be the only mother to her. She always had wanted that. A child. Sure, Ciri was not biologically hers, but that didn’t matter, not to her, neither to Ciri. She wanted to be important to someone. Life has a funny way of working out. 

‘’Speaking of sorceresses,’’ Yennefer gave Ciri a pointed look with a hint of a smile in the corner on her lips. ‘’Philippa reached out multiple times.’’ She was quite proud of her daughter.

‘’I am sure that she isn’t pleased with me,’’

‘’That is to put it mildly,’’ 

‘’I made sure that Emhyr, honored the agreement. I made no other promises,’’ huffed the future empress. ‘’I made that clear in the meeting with them, I will not be a ruler that is a puppet to a couple of sorceresses.’’ There was too much history to just begin with a clean slate. The only sorceress that had a slight influence on her was Yennefer. 

‘’Philippa is just bitter that she misjudged you. She sent multiple letters and contacted my megascope a few times, just to express her disappointment and asking for my aid to convince you otherwise.’’ 

‘’How did you answer?’’ 

‘’I only replied the first time, ignored her further attempts. I answered that I fully supported your decision to not have her as your court sorceress,’’ Yennefer shrugged and smiled. ‘’Of course, I knew that would infuriate her even more.’’ 

‘’She is just pissed that I have chosen a sorceress that is in her eyes less powerful and less experienced than her.’’ 

‘’She would destroy your court, turn it into two coin romance-drama novel with exceeding amounts of adultery.’’ 

‘’Perhaps court could use a bit of drama.’’ Ciri couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Philippa seducing her advisors wives. 

‘’Not liking the bed you have made for yourself?’’ 

‘’I thought that you lived out here to get away from politics and high society?’’ Ciri raised her brow slightly. 

‘’Well, yes, but sometimes it does get a bit boring. A good kind of boring. I feel disconnected and need someone to catch me up with what is going on in the continent outside of this vineyard,’’ when there was no reply, she asked again. ‘’Humor me, Ciri.’’ 

‘’Can we lay how we used to? I’ve got a lot to tell.’’

‘’Of course, ugly one.’’ Yennefer used her old nickname and adjusted slightly her position. 

Ciri laid her head on Yennefer’s lap and stretched her legs out too. They reached far outside of the fainting couch. She had grown a lot since the last time they talked like this. Ciri began to catch her up first with the regular continent politics. Then she talked about Nilfgaard and Emhyr, but also mentioned her fear and doubts that she had as well as what she wanted to achieve as empress. 

Yennefer listened attentively to all what her daughter had to say. Commenting where it was needed. As she talked she gently stroked her hair. Her thumb would at times caress over her scar. Ciri always liked this, it made her calm. She had missed the loving touch of a mother. The sorceress learned that Emhyr was getting weaker by the day. 

Ciri herself changed the subject, not wanting to talk too much about her father right now. ‘’In less than a year I will take my place on the throne…’’ She took a deep sigh. That was her guess at least. 

‘’Empress Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, will you make me bow for you too?’’

Ciri turned so that the back of her head was still on the sorceress lap and she could look up at her. ‘’As empress I will need to have an heir, preferably biological….’’ She knew how the subject of infertility could still be a sensitive spot for Yennefer, or so she thought. 

Yennefer looked down at her daughter and gave her a reassuring smile. By now she had made peace with the subject matter. There was no cure, she would have no biological child. Geralt being sterile complicated matters even further. For he was the one that she wanted a child with. Now all she wanted she had in both Geralt and Ciri. They were a family, even if not always together. 

Ciri took that smile as a sign that she could continue. ‘’Emhyr surprisingly is not pushing me to get married soon. But I know that it is expected of me, and I know that at the tourney, that many knights and noblemen will try to become my suitor.’’ 

‘’What troubles you?’’ Yennefer arched her brow a bit. She had suspected something but wasn’t sure. ‘’Have you had sex with a man before?’’ When there was no answer, she tried something else. ‘’....Or a woman?’’ 

Of course Yennefer would be as direct as always in these questions. Asking them without any shame. At the mention of women, Ciri turned slightly red. She hadn’t really discussed this. She needed to collect herself for a moment. She knew that Yennefer would not judge, that she could tell her mother everything. 

‘’Don’t be shy, Philippa isn’t exactly a closed book on the fairer sex.’’ While Ciri was taking a moment to answer, Yennefer was already smiling. She had gotten her answer. ‘’Did you at least follow my advice? It applies to women as well…’’ 

‘’Stop it!’’ Ciri turned even redder and laughed as she remembered her mother’s advice. ‘’My look how the tables have turned! Last time we talked about sex I was the one asking questions.’’ 

‘’It worked for me.’’ Yen shrugged as her shoulders lightly shook when she laughed, happy that she could cheer Ciri up. ‘’So tell me, I want to know everything. Surely such a beauty as you would have no trouble to find someone that can warm your bed?’’ She took her own goblet and filled it up again before she sipped from it. 

‘’What? No more ugly one, anymore?’’ Ciri grinned at that. 

‘’You have grown even more beautiful than you already were,’’ she smiled back at her, full of pride in how her daughter had turned out to be. ‘’But you will always be my pretty ugly duckling. Now no more avoiding my questions, Ciri, I know what you are trying to do.’’ 

Ciri mirrored that smile, memories came flooding in of the past where Yennefer had said to her that she did not easily laugh. Now it didn’t seem difficult at all. ‘’Nothing ever escapes you, does it?’’ Amused, she shook her head. ‘’I like women and at the same time I can admit that some men are attractive.’’

‘’Hmmm.’’ Yennefer did her best Geralt imitation which made Ciri laugh hard enough that she had to clutch her stomach. ‘’Still talking about preferences, I hear nothing about experience yet.’’ She kept teasing. 

‘’I prefer women, haven’t really slept with many of them. And yes, the bed was tidy, big and comfortable. Your advice did work.’’ Ciri finally gave a straight answer. ‘’I do like men, I find some attractive, but have never been to bed with one of them.’’ What Yennefer didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt her. The story of the elven king was not one she liked to repeat to anyone. 

‘’Aha! I do give out good advice. Make sure Geralt hears of that as well!’’ 

‘’I doubt that Geralt would like to hear about my ...nightly activities…’’ 

The women had talked all night long, reminiscing of fond memories, joked and laughed together. The sun had long set by now. Geralt had not yet returned. 

‘’Stay the night, Ciri, I am sure he will show up later tonight or tomorrow,’’ Yennefer said as she walked back in the house and led Ciri to the guest room. 

‘’I would like that,’’ she nodded. ‘’I’ll grab a fresh change of clothes, won’t take me too long,’’ she opened a portal for herself and disappeared into it a second later. 

The sorceress asked one of the staff members to prepare the guest room. While that was taken care of, she began her nighttime routine. Yennefer was in the midst of combing her hair when she heard a rather familiar shriek from one of the staff members above her. 

She walked up the stairs to see Ciri trying to hold her laugh and the staff member, with a hand on her chest, like she was trying to actually clutch her heart if it were possible. 

‘’Lady Yennefer! We had agreed on no more portals in the house!’’ 

‘’It’s all my fault, I must apologize,’’ Ciri did feel a little bad for the older woman who she had scared. Clearly this was not the first time if it had become an actual rule. ‘’I didn’t know of the no portal rule.’’ Though she was sure Geralt was in favor of it. 

The woman merely shook her head and mumbled under her breath ‘sorceresses’ with a deep sigh as she walked away to get to her own servant chambers. 

Ciri who was now only clad in a simple nightgown sat in front of the mirror and looked for a comb to brush her hair. 

‘’Allow me?’’ Yennefer asked as she stood behind her. With a nod from Ciri, she began to brush the ashen haired locks in soft and gentle movements, which was easily done for there were no knots in her hair. ‘’It’s getting quite long.’’ 

‘’Yes, I am growing it out. No reason now to keep it short or have it bundled in a bun or ponytail.’’ Ciri bit her lip, there was something on her mind that she still had to say. ‘’Emhyr asked about you when I returned…’’

‘’Did he now?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Do tell me, Ciri, why did he ask for me?’’ 

‘’He asked why you didn’t come back with me. It’s like he expected you to be there by my side.’’ 

‘’Well, I was his court sorceress and he was rather pleased with the work I did for him.’’ Yennefer arched her brow a bit. ‘’Does that bother you Ciri?’’ 

‘’No,’’ she shook her head. ‘’I wanted you to actually come with me, both of you. When we were in White Orchard I wanted to tell you….’’ 

‘’I would have gone with you, without a doubt,’’ she knew what kind of vipers there were in a royal court. She would want nothing but to protect her daughter from any danger. 

‘’I knew of your plans with Geralt, to run away to the end of the world and retire. Both of you have given up so much for me. It would be unfair to ask more of your time.’’ She took a sigh and looked at Yennefer through the mirror. ‘’I needed to do this on my own. I need to rule and make my own decisions. It wouldn’t look good if Emhyr’s old court sorceress would be mine as well.’’ 

‘’I understand,’’ she nodded. It was not the decision that hurt her, it was the no warning that had hurt Yennefer. Even if she understood it now, at the time it broke her heart to see her off riding with the Nilfgaardian escort. ‘’For what it’s worth, I am glad that you went to Emhyr and heard him out.’’ 

‘’Really?’’ It was after all Yennefer who had mentioned it to her at first. ‘’With your history, I thought you would want me as far away from him as possible.’’ 

‘’Yes, I know what kind of man your father is, and what he has done,’’ she sighed a bit. ‘’You are his daughter, Ciri, his only heir. I know that Emhyr can be...unpredictable, but I always had believed in you.''

''What do you mean with that?'' 

''You are not a little girl anymore, Ciri,'' Yennefer placed a kiss on the crown of her daughter's head. She took a moment to think of the memory in the temple of Melitele, where they had met for the first time, where Ciri first started to refer her as mama, where she taught her the basics of magic. ''You are a witcher and a sorceresses. If Emhyr would even attempt to harm you in any way or form, I had faith that you handle him.''

Ciri smiled. Yennefer was right, she was not the spoiled little princess she once was. It felt good that her mother believed in her.

‘’I have known Geralt for decades, Ciri, the life on the path isn’t an easy one.’’ She didn’t want Ciri to go through what Geralt had to go through. The discrimination by other people, the lack of respect, the lack of reasonable compensation for killing a monster, not knowing when your next meal or place of sleep would be. 

‘’I know that,’’ Ciri nodded. She had experienced life of the path herself. ''The freedom on the path is nice.'' 

‘’As an empress, you will have freedom too,’’ she knew that was what her daughter was worried about. That she would be too much held back by regulations and rules. ‘’You will be the most powerful, your word will be the law. And if you don’t feel like doing anything in particular, you can simply choose to not do it. Nobody will stop you. They can try and they will fail.’’ 

She nodded once again. There was truth in what she had said. As an emperor she could actually change the lives of people she cared about in a grander scale. ‘’Though perhaps ...when I do take the throne...You could visit from time to time, or I could turn to you for advice?’’ She softly asked. It wouldn’t be official. It would just be a daughter seeking her mother for advice.

‘’Of course,’’ Yennefer nodded. With a few more brush strokes she was done and placed the hairbrush on the dresser. ‘’I have something for you,’’ Yennefer said as she made a necklace appear, allowing Ciri to look at it before she would fasten it around her neck. 

Ciri looked at the necklace that was floating in the air in front of her. The necklace itself was made of pure silver. The round pendant that was attached as well. She could feel the magic flow through the item without even having to touch it. As she took a closer look at the necklace, she could see that there was a wolf, a swallow and a star present on the round pendant. She was mesmerized by it. 

‘’It’s unbreakable,’’ Yennefer said as she brushed Ciri’s hair to one side of her shoulders and made the necklace float to her neck. ‘’Just a bit of magic is required to use it, if you are ever in danger don’t hesitate to use it. Whether it’s a political or witcher related problem, Geralt and I will be just a touch away…’’ 

‘’It’s us. As a family,’’ Ciri said as she could feel that Yennefer now fastened the clasp of the necklace. It no longer floated in the air, the cold silver touched her skin.

‘’We are always with you, Cirilla, always,’’ she said as she pressed a kiss to the crown of her daughter's head. 

Ciri closed her eyes and took hold of the necklace, just to feel the magic that was infused in the item. It instantly made her feel safe. ‘’Thank you.’’ She stood up and got in the bed, pulling the blankets just to her midriff. Toussaint was rather warm at night. 

Yennefer had only smiled at that. Once Ciri was tucked in, she kissed her temple. ‘’Goodnight, my duckling.’’ 

‘’Goodnight, mom.’’ Ciri said before she closed her eyes. 

*****

Geralt returned home hours later. He placed the armor on one of his armor stands, not quite keeping in mind how much noise the heavy metal was making. 

‘’Must you wake the entire estate? People are trying to sleep here.’’ A sleepy Yennefer came out of their bedroom and crossed her arms over her chest. 

Before she had come out of her room, he had already smelled the familiar scent of lilac and gooseberries ‘’A guest? Who?’’ Now he identified another scent. One also rather pleasant, it was clear that the ingredients in the scent were luxurious. Not something a peasant could afford.

‘’She came home.’’ 

Those words were enough of Geralt to know who it was. His eyes lit up as the witcher made his way to the stairs to see his daughter, but he was stopped when Yennefer grabbed his hand and led him to the bedroom instead. 

‘’She been her all day and is tired now. Allow her some rest.’’

‘’Right. How is she?’’ He asked as he followed her in the room and started to undress for the night, all the time his eyes were focused on the ceiling, almost as if he could see through the ceiling.

‘’She is doing good and will be here to see the tourney in Toussaint,’’ Yennefer wrapped her arms around the scarred back of the witcher and kissed his shoulder. ‘’Tomorrow you have all day to talk to her, darling.’’ 

‘’Hmm.’’ Geralt nodded turned his head so that he could place a soft kiss on the sorceress's lips. ‘’You are right.’’ 

‘’As I always am,’’ Yennefer said as she took hold of Geralt’s hand and pulled him to their bed. 

The witcher laid on the bed, with the sorceress head resting on his chest. He closed his eyes and hoped to fall asleep soon so that the time would pass quickly and he could spend time with his daughter.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked that. I know Emhyr in the books really has a bad reason to want Ciri back, but I choose to not go with that.


End file.
